PDA

View Full Version : This particular wild squirrel is acting "funny" and drinking a lot of water



lowmileage
05-11-2012, 04:19 PM
Hi all,
At the end of February, I started helping along this squirrel that had a bad skin condition. He started coming to a dish of broken up (unsalted) peanuts combined with some mice/rodent feed. After about a month or so, his condition cleared up. Once a day, sometimes 2x, he came to the place where i set up his feeding station. A couple of times, if he got there first and I wasn't there, he was waiting for me on the picnic table outside the sliding door from the house. He never acted like the other squirrels. For instance, he seemed to "take forever" to eat a peanut in a shell. That's where I got the idea to break up the peanuts for him. When he eats them, he chews and chews - like he has a hard time eating them. A couple of days ago, he was acting much different - moving around much more slowly and not interested much in the feeding station but he was consuming a lot of water. I put 2 dog dishes of water in the yard and they normally drink for a short time - maybe 5-10 seconds. Now the last 3 times I've seen him, he seems to be there for a couple of minutes. It seems he can't get enough. So far, I haven't seen him yesterday or today. Obvioulsy, not a good sign. Any clues?

lowmileage
05-11-2012, 04:23 PM
He is was a 2/28
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/4357/p2280117.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/406/p2280117.jpg/)

He is was at 3/10

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/1917/p3100126c.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/p3100126c.jpg/)

Now his coat has completly healed up

Sweet Simon's Mommy
05-11-2012, 04:40 PM
sounds to me he may have trouble with his teeth and cant chew properly, he may be filling up with the water because he is hungry, try giving him some lettuce,broccoli, apples, fresh corn, if you can read the nutritional thread of the list of good foods and also you can make some home made block that is softer than the regular.

lowmileage
05-11-2012, 04:54 PM
Thanks - I did make him "cookies" from bird suit, peanut butter and the rodent food and ground up peanuts - but he never really liked it - the other squirrels did though. I will try the veggies. Thanks

Kristal
05-11-2012, 05:05 PM
My wilds took to grapes and pomegranates immediately. Think anything is wrong with his teeth?

SammysMom
05-11-2012, 05:15 PM
Not to be an alarmist but is there any chance he got into poison?

lowmileage
05-12-2012, 10:45 AM
My wilds took to grapes and pomegranates immediately. Think anything is wrong with his teeth?

Being the way he chews, a very good chance.

lowmileage
05-12-2012, 10:47 AM
Not to be an alarmist but is there any chance he got into poison?

That would be bad news for sure. It's in a neighborhood where that type of activity would (hopefully) be frowned upon. I haven't seen him in 2 days now but I have some cut up apples and brocelli (sp) ready.